Pain
by chocolate365
Summary: Physical wounds were nothing to her. They meant little, if at all. Mental wounds, inward scars...those were the terrible ones. They tormented her in the dead of night.They reminded her of danger, the choices she'd made. They were the unmerciful ones. Story of Robin and Starfire's grief and how they meet and deal with the pain. Better than it sounds! RobStar and BBRae. Please R&R.
1. The Pain

Pain.

Agony.

Hurt.

She knew them well. The terrible scars, the awful wounds, the nights spent toughened against the pain.

She threw herself at the wall yet again. She did not care about the noise. She did not care about the pain.

She was no stranger to it, after all.

Physical wounds were nothing to her. Merely skin-deep abrasions that would mend quickly if given time. They meant little, if at all.

Mental wounds, inward scars…those were the terrible ones. They tormented her in the dead of night. They whispered to her in the winds. They reminded her of the danger, the choices she had made.

They were the unmerciful ones.

They were the voices that hurt worst. They were the voices in her head.

_If only Komand'r had not…if only her parents were not…how she wished Ryand'r was not…_

She screamed. Again.

The guard yelled.

She did not care.

She was in too much pain. It hurt. So much…

She stared at the crimson liquid slowly trickling down her cheek. She could see her reflection in the metal. The metal was lit by her.

By her mutated _ability._

"_Gaa'fynk!"_ She screamed in disgust at herself. _"Rutha!"_

She hated herself.

She hated these aliens.

She hated her sister.

She hated this universe.

She hated everything.

Her eyes lit in an uncanny glow.

"_Sakrewn mocil'waa,"_ she growled, tugging on her handcuffs.

The guards hissed at her from outside.

She turned.

She glared.

She walked over to the door.

"_Ansyreet baqviit condezcox," _she hissed back.

_You do not know pain._

)))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))

Pain.

Agony.

Hurt.

He knew them well. Better than anyone else, in his opinion. No one else could possibly understand what he'd had to endure.

Except perhaps Bruce. But that was different.

He pounded his head against the wall.

He screamed at himself.

He glared at the floor.

He cursed the day of his birth.

How he longed to be free of all this. Why did he have to endure this? Why him? Did he do something wrong?

He was angry. Again.

Physical pain…he was accustomed to it. He had learned to not care. He had been taught never to flinch. Skin scars only went skin-deep.

It was his mental wounds that conflicted.

Death. Murder. Screams. Accidents. Funerals. Weeping. Mourning.

It was all there.

His memories tortured him. Always.

He wept.

He screamed.

He cursed.

He yelled.

He didn't care.

He just didn't care anymore.

Why should he?

Silence.

Deadness.

Then…

Bruce's voice.

"Come down, Dick. There's an alien ship somewhat near Earth. I need you to investigate."

He grimaced.

He growled.

He got up.

Because, after all, he couldn't stop.

He just…couldn't.

))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))

**Wow. Usually I'm not so angsty, but this popped up and…um. Yeah. So I hope you liked it, anyway. Sorry if it didn't make sense. It made sense to me. It was an inside look in Robin and Starfire's minds when Star was still held by the Gordanians and Robin was still with Batman. It's an alternative to how they could've met…Robin investigating the ship and finding the prisoners and…yeah.**

**I don't own Teen Titans, Marvel, or Batman or anything. **

**I'm considering making this a story. Thoughts?**

**Please review. **


	2. The Meeting

_Almost there. _

Robin ran lightly along the sides of the ship. He dropped down below. He ducked just in time before one of the strange aliens glopped by. He grimaced at the smell.

His mind raced again over Bruce's instructions. _Find out what they're up to. What they're doing. If they're landing on earth. If they're peaceful._

Piece of cake.

His breathing was shallow as he downloaded all of their stored software onto his chip. He clicked it into place as he climbed up the shaft, preparing to leave.

He heard voices.

He froze.

Two of the odd aliens padded inside. They spoke strangely, with garbled retching noises, but the language they spoke was similar to a mix of Russian and Indonesian.

Robin just so happened to speak both those languages.

He carefully listened and pieced together a conversation somewhat like this:

"How is she holding?"

"Well enough. She shall be delivered punctually."

"She will not escape?"

"No. Lord Trogaar would not allow it."

"Does she continue to resist?"

"Yes. We beat her earlier. Vansquire planned to have fun with her later."

The first one snorted. "That is not advisable. Those who have attempted to touch her are now dead."

The second seemed to shrug. "It is not my concern. The prisoner is held safely. That is all that matters."

Their conversation died as they turned their attention to the controls. Robin, however, had heard enough.

He slunk away from the guards and hurried down the halls. He remembered what looked like a prisoner's section near the center.

He sent a small probe ahead that cut a tiny section off the giant metal box he assumed to hold this prisoner. He slipped inside without notice.

The first thing he registered was that it was dark. Extremely dark.

As he allowed his eyes to get accustomed, he saw a hunched shape in the corner. The girl…

Robin stepped forward. She whipped her head around. He still couldn't make out her features.

He held up a hand. "Don't worry. I'm not going to hurt you."

_"X'Hal,"_ she breathed. _"Xiabeh ionfreath!"_

Robin didn't understand.

She stepped closer. "I believe your expression is," she hissed, "I do not believe you."

"Look, I'm from Earth. I just came to see if these aliens aboard are hostile," he tried to reason with her.

She turned away. Robin still couldn't see what she looked like. "They are called Gordanians."

He stared. "What?"

"Gordanians!" she cried, spinning around suddenly. "They are my captors!"

"Are they hostile?" Robin asked dumbly.

She laughed bitterly. "Negative. It is I who am hostile," she muttered, and plunked back down on the ground.

He studied her dark form. "Why is it so dark?"

Her head jerked up. "I am…empowered by solar energy," she replied slowly.

He didn't understand. "Why are you here? What are these Gordanians doing?"

"They are what you call 'bounty hunters', no?" she said softly. "They took me from my planet. They deliver me to the Citadel, where I shall live out my days as their servant."

"What's the Citadel?"

She slowly looked up. "A terrible place. Murder…deceit…immoral doings…" she mumbled. She sounded so tired. "The Gordanians work with them. They bring more aliens to supply the Citadel. The Psions are also allied with them."

"Why'd they take you?" He asked carefully.

"That is not your concern."

"Do they plan on landing on Earth?"

"No. Your kind is too weak for slaves. They deliver much more powerful specimens."

"Like you?" he blurted out.

She laughed again. Bitterly. "Yes."

"Well, then I'm not going to let them," he said with sudden determination.

She sighed. "You will leave now."

"Now without you," he replied decisively.

Her voice turned to a growl. "I am not worth it. Go."

"No," he said back just as stubbornly.

Suddenly the dark cell was lit with a brilliant green light. He got his first good look at her.

She wore a black miniskirt with a black sleeveless, midriff-hugging top. She wore black boots going up over her knees, just inches away from her skirt. Wherever there was skin, her arms, legs in between her boots and skirt, neck—was covered in silver armor. She wore a silver breastplate with a green gem in the center. There was a silver M-shaped crown-like object encircling her face. Her eyes were glowing green. She had peach-tinted skin and long, fiery red hair. (Think of Blackfire's outfit in 'Sisters'.)

She was absolutely beautiful.

_"You see now?!"_ she screamed, her eyes glowing dangerously. "I am a monster! A mutant! I do not belong anywhere! I may as well die in the Citadel!" She turned away. There was a long gash on her left cheek, still oozing blood.

There were also white handcuffs encircling her hands and wrists.

"Leave me," she snarled, and sat looking away.

Robin touched her shoulder. She flinched. "What is your name?"

She pondered this. "What is yours?"

He drew his breath in. "Robin."

"That is an Earth bird's name," she stated flatly.

He chuckled. "I guess. It's my superhero name."

She sniffed disdainfully and looked away again.

He placed his hand gently on her shoulder. This time, she didn't flinch. "I know the pain you're feeling," he said calmly.

She jerked away. "You know nothing of pain, Earth boy," she hissed.

His eyes flashed behind the mask. "Believe me, alien. I do."

She glared. "Koriand'r."

Now he was confused. "What?"

"My name is not alien. First, I am Tameranean. Second, I am Koriand'r."

He allowed this to sink in. "There wouldn't happen to be a translation, would there?"

She huffed. "Starfire," she admitted slowly.

Robin grinned. He liked that. "Okay, you're Starfire. Now let's go."

Starfire shook her head again. "I will not go. I will just put you in danger. I have tried to escape before, when I was still held by the Psions." Her eyes misted over. "It did not go well."

"Well, you may as well come, because I'm not going without you."

Her eyes finally stopped glowing as she sighed in defeat.

"Very well. Let us depart."

He wasn't listening anymore. He was too captivated by her astonishingly gorgeous emerald green eyes. They were large, sparkly, doe-like, beautiful…

"Robin?"

He snapped back to reality. "Right," he muttered. "Let's go."

They actually managed to creep down the halls without being discovered easily. Mostly because Robin had put a cloak concealment over them, but still.

They had reached an airlock when Robin hesitated.

"What is wrong?" Starfire whispered.

"I can't fly," he admitted. "My ship probably flew back when I didn't get here sooner."

She sighed. "You cannot," she whispered, "But I can."

Before Robin could question her, she wrapped her arms around his waist and took off. "Woah!"

They were flying.

It was spectacular.

It was breathtaking.

It reminded him of the circus.

Pain.

Would it ever leave him alone?

))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))

**FINISHED with chapter 2 of Pain! Yay!**

**So, this was pretty long. I'm fairly happy with it.**

**Ooh, what will Bruce say when Robin arrives with a Tameranean beauty? ;) And don't worry, Cyborg, Raven, and Beast Boy will show up soon!**

**A few notes: I'm pretty sure Star's history is correct, but if it's not, just pretend it is for the sake of this story. Also, she can speak English already. It worked better in here.**

**I don't own TT, Marvel, Batman…or anything. Just the plot.**

**Thanks for the reviews!**

**Keep reviewing, please!**

**Bye now.**


End file.
